Finding the Value of Old Coins and Paper Money

What is Value?

Basically, there are four different types of "value" for coins and bills:

Book (or "catalog") value

Buy price

Retail value

Wholesale value

Book value is an average of many dealers' retail prices for a certain coin or bill - in other words, what the average dealer would sell it for. This price is called the "book" value because you would typically find it in a published book such as the Standard Catalog of World Coins.

Buy price is the price that a dealer would be willing to pay you if you sold him or her your coin or bill.

Retail value is the price for which a dealer would sell a coin or bill to you. So, if a dealer wants to stay in business, he or she usually offers lower buy prices than retail prices.

Wholesale value is the price for which a dealer would sell a coin to another dealer. Wholesale value can also be a discounted price that a dealer would accept from a buyer who is purchasing in large quantities.

Factors That Effect Value

There are several factors that influence the value of a coin or bill:

Rarity

Demand

Condition

Rarity involves the number (or "mintage") of coins or bills that were originally produced. Rarity also involves the number of those coins or bills that are still around today.

Demand varies according to the popularity and availability of a coin or bill:

The demand might be higher or lower in different areas of the world, or during different years

If a coin is too damaged to have value as a collectible, its metal content (the amount of gold or silver in the coin) may have a "basal" value. According to Roderick Hughes' Official Know-It-All Guide, Coins, you can find out the value of the metal if you:

Multiply the weight of the coin

Times the "fineness" of the coin (the percentage of the coin that is gold or silver)

Times the current price of the metal.Kitco gives live market quotes for gold, silver, and other metals.

Finding Values for World Currency

Before you begin looking for the value of a coin or bill, you need to know:

Whether the coin or bill is a "general issue" or a "commemorative."

Some price guides have separate sections for commemoratives or other "special" issues.

Which country issued the coin or bill.

A coin or bill's design often includes the name of the country, in that country's official language.

Before you buy

Visit your local library and read as much about the hobby as you can. There are a lot of scams out there! The Federal Trade Commission offers a helpful article, "Investing in Rare Coins." The American Numismatic Association has a page of Consumer Awareness Resources.

If you need more help

Although the Pratt Library does not appraise coins or bills, we are happy to provide assistance in finding the "book" value for your currency, using print and electronic resources at our library.

As Maryland's State Library Resource Center, the Pratt Library has a broad collection of resources for coin and bill collectors. What we've mentioned in this guide is only the tip of the iceberg. If you've tried these sources, and you still can't find what you're looking for, please email us, call (410) 396-5430, or contact us by mail: